Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike hit all-time highs this week as Wall Street's holiday-shortened session showed investor capital rotating out of semiconductors and into AI-security stocks, CNBC reports. The PHLX Semiconductor Index fell 6.3% Wednesday and 5.4% Thursday even as the S&P 500 closed the first half of 2026 up 9.6% and the Russell 2000 posted its best first-half gain since 1991, near 22%. CNBC linked part of the cybersecurity rally to Wall Street Journal reporting that Zhipu AI's open-weight GLM-5.2 model now rivals Anthropic's restricted Mythos model at finding software vulnerabilities, a signal investors read as raising near-term demand for AI-security spending. The Dow closed at a record Thursday after a soft June jobs report reduced near-term Fed rate-hike odds, with markets closed Friday for the holiday.
Palo Alto, CrowdStrike wrap best quarter ever as AI threats bolster cyber demand